Accidentally Checked By My Brother’s Best Friend (Accidentally In Sports #3)

38. Epilogue

Ava

Less than twenty-four hours later Duncan and I are standing in front of the altar at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Elvis, an impersonator—we all know that he’s not still alive—is dressed in the famous American Eagle Jumpsuit. He’s waiting for us to tell him it’s okay to start.

“Who is that?” Scarlett’s voice sounds through the tablet. “And why does he have those big glasses on?”

Through the speakers we can hear David explaining quietly.

I completely forgot today was a school day, which meant they couldn’t be here in person. Instead, we scheduled a time when Scarlett would be home from school so we could do a video call.

It’s been great…until now.

“I like his hair,” Scarlett says and the entire room laughs.

“Thank you. Thank you very much,” Elvis answers, and I lean my face into Duncan’s arm and chuckle.

“Are we really doing this?” I whisper, my cheeks ache from the grin stretched across my face since yesterday.

“Which one? Getting married or having Elvis marry us?” Duncan’s chest rumbles and his smile sends tiny shock waves through my body.

“Both?” I scrunch my face looking up at him. A tiny giggle escaping.

“Yes.” His eyes roam my face and I feel heat everywhere they touch.

Duncan looks so unbearably handsome that it hurts me to look at him. He’s wearing a dark grey suit that fits him like a glove, with a pair of blue suede shoes. It’s beyond perfect. He’s beyond perfect, and the way he keeps looking at me like he won the lottery makes all parts of me warm and fuzzy.

Grabbing my hand from his arm, he lifts it to his mouth, and chills run through me as his lips brush my skin. My heart is nearly exploding with all the love I have for him.

“Ava, if you don’t want to do this, we can wait and plan something else. I’ll marry you any place, any time. Just tell me when.”

“You’d do that for me?” I ask in awe of the man standing beside me.

“I’d do anything for you.” His husky voice leaves me slightly breathless, and his smile has my heart jumping around my chest.

There isn’t any doubt that I want to marry him or that I want to marry him right here and now. But the fact that he would come to Las Vegas, twenty-four hours after proposing, only to tell me that he would wait makes me feel like I won in life.

“When are you going to kiss?” Scarlett huffs. Once again, laughter rings out and impossibly my smile gets bigger.

“How did I get so lucky?” I squeeze Duncan’s hand in mine. “Yes, I want to have Elvis marry us. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have that experience?”

The crowd behind us cheers and I give them a fist pump with my bouquet. It only has them cheer louder.

It’s a pretty packed house and honestly I’m not sure if other people are getting married or if they just followed us here to watch. Apparently, Tea Time got hold of the news that we were getting married today and figured out where.

Tea Time spreading the news makes it feel like we’ve come full circle.

“Aren’t these two just the sweetest?” Elvis looks around the room and waits for the crowd to respond. Then looking directly at me, he asks. “Are you ready to marry this hunka, hunka, Burning Love ?”

“I’ve never been more ready to let someone be my Teddy Bear or Love Me Tender , in my entire life.”

Duncan gives me one of those smiles that sucks all the breath from me turning my knees to jelly.

“Getting into the swing of things, I see.” Elvis winks, then swivels his hips.

Laughing, I squish my face into Duncan’s arm. When he leans down to kiss me, Elvis puts a hand out.

“No kissing until after the I dos.” He swivels his hips again. “Let’s get this started, shall we? The groom is getting impatient.”

“Finally!” Scarlett groans.

The room erupts with laughter and cheers. Duncan and I nod.

As Elvis starts with the invocations, Duncan’s eyes beam down at me, my breath hitches, my heart stops, and the world stands still for a moment.

The ceremony is ridiculously campy, but irresistibly sweet. I’ve been married more than once in the movies I’ve filmed, but this is the best one hands down.

“The feelings you have now are a Fountain of Love that will nourish each of you as you move through life together. The rings represent the desire to show that love to the rest of the world.”

Putting my left hand out, Elvis places the simple gold band Duncan and I agreed upon. He then does the same for Duncan.

“Duncan, do you promise to love Ava tender, to never treat her like a fool and never stop yourself from falling in love with her?”

Duncan looks over at me, his eyes glassy and I feel the back of my eyes burn. “I do.” He lifts my hand, slides on the simple gold band. When I go to pull my hand away, he grips it tighter and slips on the most beautiful emerald cut sapphire that leaves me blinded.

“Duncan!” I gasp. “We said we weren’t going to get anything fancy.”

Duncan gives me a sheepish grin. “Welcome to the first day of me spoiling you for the rest of your life.”

I nearly throw my arms around him, but Elvis’s hand pops out again.

“Almost done, little lady.”

Laughter fills the room again.

“Ava, do you—”

“Yes!” I yell and place the ring on Duncan’s finger. I slide my arms around his neck and kiss him for all he’s worth.

“Well then, I now pronounce you man and wife.”

“Took long enough.” I can all but feel the roll of Scarlett’s eyes.

The room laughs and clapping breaks out nearly bringing down the house.

When Duncan scoops me up, the room roars and my heart flies. When he snuggles his face in my neck and tells me just how much he loves me, I’m grateful for all his muscles since I’m certain I wouldn’t have the strength to stand.

Since Duncan lifted me in his arms after the ceremony, my feet haven’t touched the ground once. Getting our new room key was quite the experience. But now that he carries me over the threshold to the honeymoon suite, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

The past thirty minutes of being Mrs. Duncan James has consisted of very little talking, at least not with words, and every little touch leaves a trail of flames across my body.

For the first time I realize how empty the characters I’ve been playing have been. I didn’t think this type of love was possible for me; heck, I didn’t believe it was possible at all. How could I, when I never got to experience it?

The absence of Duncan’s lips as he tries to navigate the room has me protesting and him chuckling.

“You don’t want to fall, do you?” Letting my hands slowly explore his face, my lips curve into a crooked grin.

“I guess.” Duncan chuckles. He gives me a quick peck that nearly makes me cry out in frustration. “You can always put me down so I can walk for myself.”

“Not in this lifetime. I’ve been waiting forever to do this.” When I quirk an eyebrow he chuckles. “Okay. Just for the next few minutes, until I find the…there it is.”

As if I am the most precious thing in the world, Duncan gently lays me on the bed. When he pulls his arms away from me, rather than following, my eyes widen in surprise.

“Mr. James, where do you think you’re going?” A mischievous grin spreads across his face and his eyes fill with heat.

“I’ll be right back.” Pointing at me, he commands. “Don’t move.”

A silly grin stretches across my face and I let my gaze roam over my husband’s body as he walks away. Extending my arms over my head, I let out a content little sigh and impatiently wait for what seems like forever.

My mind wanders over the last few weeks and everything that’s happened. An intense longing fills me, wishing Fiona was here so I could share all of this with her.

“I hope you—” his voice cuts off, and he rushes over to lie next to me, his thumb working to smooth the lines of worry on my forehead. “Ava, what’s wrong?”

The huskiness of his voice wraps around me like a blanket, and my lips lift at the corner a tiny bit.

“I was just wishing Fiona was here.” I cup his face with one hand and he turns his lips toward my palm. “I miss her so much.”

Smoothing my hair with his hands, he pins me with his gaze. “I do too. I don’t think she ever told you…” He pauses and I see, for the first time, how much Fiona meant to him too. “She was the only person who knew how I felt about you. I never told her, she just knew.”

Warmth bursts through my chest knowing that Fiona is a part of this journey, even if she’s no longer physically here.

“We can always name our first daughter after her…” He waggles his eyebrows at me and I giggle. “What do you think? We can get started right now.”

“Right now, huh?” I run my fingers over his lips and pull his face down. “I think that might be your best idea all day.”

“All day?” He stops and pulls his head away, eyes dancing. “I think I’ve had a ton of good ideas today.”

When he starts to name them I groan.

“Dunnncan,” I whine.

“Yes, Mrs. James?”

“Will you stop talking and kiss me?”

“Do you want me to stop talking for the rest of my life or for a little while?”

“Dunc—”

Duncan’s lips claim mine and I lose all train of thought. When he stops, I groan. Cupping my face he whispers against my lips. “I love you so much, Ava. I look forward to a lifetime of showing you just how much.”

He pulls his head away slightly and lets his eyes roam over my face. The love I see shining in his eyes makes my breath hitch.

“I love you. So much. And how about you start by showing me right now?”

Duncan’s roguish grin and quirked eyebrows tell me everything I need to know. When his lips land on mine this time, there’s no more talking.

The End.